I happened to have a day off, just before St Patricks day, and with everyone else working, I decided to check out the Proclaiming a republic : The 1916 Rising Exhibition which is was on in the Riding School at the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks. The exhibition contains one of the largest displays of materials from the period, many of the objects have never been on public display before and others such as the Irish Republic flag which flew over the GPO, has been specially conserved. This exhibition explores the background to the Rising, events of Easter week itself through the everyday, intimate and personal belongings of the participants, scenes of the surrender of the rebels and also explore the stories of those who were imprisoned and interned. A particular eerie highlight are the last letters of those sentenced to death, which are displayed alongside their belongings that were in their cells in Kilmainham Gaol, within a sombre space. This 1916 exhibit is worth a visit. +Niamh did the Outdoor exhibition in St Stephen's Green telling the events of the rising that occurred there over 20 illustrated exhibition panels, the Saturday after. The funny thing was that evening, she was telling me how good the exhibition was, as I was about the one at Collins Barracks, which she ended up doing on her day off the following Tuesday. Paddy and myself did the outdoor one that afternoon too on route to visit his parents.
As the week processed, we convinced our parents to come up for Easter and to finally meet Paddy. They even surprised us by deciding to come up a night earlier then originally planned. As I was telling them about the Easter 1916 Lost Leaders March, that was taking place on Good Friday from Kilmainham Gaol to Arbor Hill arranged by Sinn Fein. After getting the introductions out of the way, when they arrived up Thursday evening, we were all soonenjoying ourselves, laughing away. On Good Friday morning, we got up early to make sure we got there in time and to soak up the atmosphere at the Gaol. By the time the March finally got underway, 45 mins late typical Irish time keeping, instead of starting at midday as advertised, a massive crowd and participants had gathered for the March. The Procession/Parade itself was very well done and bigger than my parents or myself thought it would be. I forgot how big the hill up to Arbor Hill was, it had nearly taken the wind out of us. We got lucky with our position for the ceremony and speeches itself. It was a pity that the March began late as half way through Gerry Adams Speech, I had to dash off to catch the LUAS to work after I had dropped my parents off in town, luckily I managed to just make it in time. We all agreed that despite how severe the March was it was worth the pain and effort.
The following morning, I decided to treat Paddy to a visit to the +GuinnessStorehouse, as in all his years he'd never been despite being a Guinness drinker himself. I had brought early bird tickets online before we went, which proved very lucky as the queues for both cash and online tickets were massive. I got talking to one of the staff, who was asking people in the queue, if anyone had early bird tickets, as they were only valid until 11.30am and it was almost that, so we were able to skip the queue and go straight in. Although I had been there before, I enjoyed the visit nearly as much as Paddy and was intrigued how much they had changed the tour since my last visit there. I personally am not a Guinness drinker myself, but even I enjoyed the smooth pint up in the Gravity Bar and the staff were so friendly up there too. It ended up being a late night drinking and bonding which ended up being quite fun.
The following morning, Easter Sunday, Niamh and myself got up early and left for town, as everyone else was still in bed, for the Easter Sunday Commemoration Ceremony & Parade. As we didn't want to get quashed with the crowds, we managed to get a perfect spot up at Christchurch, just as Military Parade was beginning to arrive into area, before halting until the Flag Ceremony at Dublin Castle. In the end we both felt we got very lucky with our spot, as we able to see the parade perfectly and observed other events on the big screen located nearby. After Military parade, we headed for home and get our parents on the bus home to Clare, which was managed via a detour for them with Dublin Bus to the Red Cow to meet the coach for Ennis. It was a great weekend, even better with the parents coming to stay and visit.
Due to the LUAS strike, I had to get a bus anyways to work on the Bank Holiday Monday, I decided to go with Niamh into town early, to experience some of the RTÉ Reflecting the Rising on O'Connell St before, or that was the plan, before we decided on going to the Rotunda Hospital for their exhibition entitled Rotunda: Birth of a Nation which showcases the lives of five prominent medical women throughout Easter Week 1916, through a series of selected items from private collections, video footage and graphic and print wall hangings. Soon after leaving this exhibition, I left Niamh on O'Connell St to enjoy the events, while I sprinted away for the bus out to work. Niamh was telling me that of the 4 areas with events on, that O Connell Street was by far the best. She was saying that Joe Duffy's Liveline 1916 special, Discovery Gospel choir, Simon Morgan and Lisa Lamb, and the Lost Boys were particular highlights. What made the trip into town more worth it especially with the wind and cold was meeting up with her friend Helena and having a good catch up.
As I am usually off on Tuesdays, I decided to make the most of it by seeing some more of the exhibitions ongoing in town. I walked into town, so I could get into the Four Courts and check out the Bullets, Books & Barricades exhibition, that the Bar of Ireland and the Courts Centenary Commemoration Committee produced to explore the background to the Easter Rising, The battle of the Four Courts area ranging from Church Street, North King Street, Stoneybatter and Smithfield and occupation of the Four Courts itself and the aftermath and executions are also included with the consideration of the Rising's legacy. Trying to find the open entrance to Round Hall was proving difficult, after getting lost yet again, I asked someone for the third time, where it was and they then realised that as the judges were on holidays for Easter, the main entrance on the quays was closed until Friday. So after getting through security, and finding the Round Hall, the long way around through the Four Courts itself, I was at the exhibit. I think due to the fact it being a Tuesday after Easter and the main entrance closed I had the whole exhibit to myself which was quiet, peaceful and well done. A building I wanted to see the inside for years and was finally open to the public is the Custom House which was open for the 2 weeks of Easter. The Custom House, is the architectural masterpiece of James Gandon and the exhibition inside outlines the history of the building and describes the events in the building during Easter week and considers the history of the building and its occupants from 1916 until 1921 when the building was completely destroyed by fire during the War of the Independence. Once I was finished with the exhibition, I managed to time it perfectly to witness, the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins departing from Liberty Hall, who was there for the Commemoration event for the Irish Citizen Army and James Connolly.
Late Wednesday night, +Paddy turns to me and says do you want to go to the +WWE Live event at +3Arena Dublin the following night, if there was tickets still available. I said sure, as this is a big part of you, I'm gonna show an interest and try get involved and get into it. Tickets bought, I arranged to get 2 passes into the Bar Neon to chill in before the event. Once the event got underway, I must admit I got into it more than I thought I would. The atmosphere from the crowd for the wrestlers entrance and during the fights was contagious. The fight between +Roman Reigns and +WWESheamus BrogueKick really got everyone cheering and shouting. It was the perfect way to finish the event, which had been such a fun night, although it was my first WWE live event doubt it will be my last.
The following weekend was my weekend off, Niamh and myself decided to head into town and soak up the atmosphere. On the Saturday on our way to Henry Street shopping, we noticed the Easter Rising Commemorative speech outside the GPO which was organised by Sinn Fein. There wasn't much else on that day but on the Sunday, their was a Reclaim 1916 Event. The event was organised by Reclaim the Vision of 1916 initiative, as a way for the people by the people event, celebrating the 1916 Rising and urging all towards its vision of a republic of equality. We had arrived to O' Connell Street early, and got a very good position for the open air event just in front of the Spire and near to the GPO. As we arrived so early, we managed to witness the musicians have their soundcheck before the event. The event commenced by 4 uilleann pipers and 4 harpists from our 4 provinces. Adrian Dunbar was the MC for the event, which had Fionnula Flanagan give several readings, and Stephen Murphy recite his own poem 'Was It For This?' which had everyone captivated and when he finished the thousands in the crowd, cheered and shouted which was totally justified as it was such an emotional recital.
Music was provided by singers Don Baker, Francis Black and Damien Dempsey and musician Donal Lunny. The event concluded with the national anthem. Later that night, while online, I came across that the nearby St James's Graveyard was opening for a special blessing of a grave, first time that this now closed graveyard will be open in over 25 years.
The following morning, I luckily enough remembered to cross the road to the church, to wait for the Mass to finish before the procession over to the graveyard. The priest decided to wait until 11 am before heading over, which gave me enough time to check out 1916 exhibition - Rising in the Union within Parochial Hall next door to the church. At 11 am, a good crowd crossed the road towards the graveyard, is located behind the new whiskey distillery which is still a building site, so we all had to be careful making our ways towards the grave of Lieut George Fullerton who had been killed during the easter rising. After the blessing of the grave by the priest, a veteran of the armed forces played our national anthem at the grave side using a bag pipes.
As I am usually off on Tuesdays, I decided to make the most of it by seeing some more of the exhibitions ongoing in town. I walked into town, so I could get into the Four Courts and check out the Bullets, Books & Barricades exhibition, that the Bar of Ireland and the Courts Centenary Commemoration Committee produced to explore the background to the Easter Rising, The battle of the Four Courts area ranging from Church Street, North King Street, Stoneybatter and Smithfield and occupation of the Four Courts itself and the aftermath and executions are also included with the consideration of the Rising's legacy. Trying to find the open entrance to Round Hall was proving difficult, after getting lost yet again, I asked someone for the third time, where it was and they then realised that as the judges were on holidays for Easter, the main entrance on the quays was closed until Friday. So after getting through security, and finding the Round Hall, the long way around through the Four Courts itself, I was at the exhibit. I think due to the fact it being a Tuesday after Easter and the main entrance closed I had the whole exhibit to myself which was quiet, peaceful and well done. A building I wanted to see the inside for years and was finally open to the public is the Custom House which was open for the 2 weeks of Easter. The Custom House, is the architectural masterpiece of James Gandon and the exhibition inside outlines the history of the building and describes the events in the building during Easter week and considers the history of the building and its occupants from 1916 until 1921 when the building was completely destroyed by fire during the War of the Independence. Once I was finished with the exhibition, I managed to time it perfectly to witness, the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins departing from Liberty Hall, who was there for the Commemoration event for the Irish Citizen Army and James Connolly.
To round off my day of 1916 commemorative exhibitions, I finished with the RCSI's exhibition entitled Surgeons and Insurgents - RCSI and the Easter Rising which tell the story of the rising through the human stories of key figures associated with the college and the Easter Rising. The Exhibition is free and open to the public weekdays. The building is significant as it's the only building directly involved in the Rising that stands as it did in 1916, with all others being rebuilt or demolished. The exhibition consists of personal items from figures such as Countess Markievicz to Margaret Skinnider who were with the garrison of the Irish Citizen Army and housed within the college and describes the lives of key figures from both sides.
To try something different one day after work, Paddy and myself went to the Open Gate Brewery at Guinness on the following Thursday evening, which cost 6€ and included a tasting board consisting 4 different exclusive beers, each with various degrees of success. We both agreed the Dubliner Wheat was the one, we both liked most, so much so we ordered a pint each, costing 5€.
Later in April, on my day off, I finally got the opportunity and chance to check out the renovated old courthouse at the Kilmainham Gaol, which pretty cool to see and observe the historical building mostly untouched from its hay day, with it's original jury balcony and register of convicts sentenced which is opened to page of Constance Markievicz sentence.
